Filter device



Oct. 21,1941.

T. J. McLElsH Y FILTER DEVICE Filed July 18, 1940 2 Sheets-Shea?l l gru/umm Patented Oct. 21,.

Nr ori-fies This inventionrelates to improvements in air strainers or air lters of the type designed for use in' connection with the carbureters of inter- `nal combustion engines, the present device being primarily designed for use upon motorcycles, motor scooters or similar types of machines.

In the operation of motorcycles, scooters and like vehicles, the engines are frequently tilted atvery sharp angles and where air cleaners are employed in association with the engine carbureter, which have a cleaning fluid therein such as oil or the like, such iluid frequently spills out when the engine is tilted to an extreme angle. The present invention has for its primary object to provide an air cleaner in which the'air iiowing therethrough is subjected to an oil bath, which is so designed that the oil will not be spilled out even though the machine upon which the cleaner is mounted is laid on its side or stood on end, thus insuring at all times the presence in the cleaner of the necessary oil through which the air owing to the engine carbureter must pass.

Another object of the invention is to provide an oil bath air cleaner iwhich while primarily designed for use upon motorcycles and like vehicles in the manner stated, may be readily converted to use upon automobile engines in con-` nection with down-draft carbureters. y

A still further object of the invention is to' for the cleaner.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings forming part oi this specication, with the understanding, however, that the invention is notte be conilned to any strict conformity with theshowing of the drawings but may be changed or modified so long as such changes er modications mark no material departure from the sali-J ent features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal'section through the air nlter embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line '2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a View partly in side elevation and partly in section of a modined form of the in vention.

Fig. 4 is a view in bottom plan of the cleaner cover showing the air conductor tube therein.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be 'seen that the air cleaner embodying the present invention comprises an elongated pressed metal body I having a longitudinally extending open top, the edge of which is outwardly flanged, as indicated at 2, and. opposite the open top, a 4downwardly.pressed longitudinally extending oil pan or sump 3 having substantially straight side walls, this pan being lled with oil as shown. The longitudinalside walls of the body i bulge or curve outwardly, as indicated at fi, so that the body suggests a horlzontally disposed cylinder having aA flat open top side and a downwardly pressed bottom side. The front and rear ends of the body are bowed or pressed outwardly in the substantially semispherical form shown and indicated respectively by the numerals 5 and 6.

At substantially the transverse center of the body l, each side wall 4 is provided with an: air inlet tube or conduit 1 which at its outer end is shaped to provide the downwardly opening hood 8 and which extends inwardlyand downwardly into the receptacle body, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, the inner end portion of each tube being indicated by the numeral 9.

At the transverse center of the body l there extends upwardly through the central portion of the oil' sump 3, a sleeve Il) which is secured to the bottom of the oil sump in a fluid-tight manner and opens through such bottom to receive a tie'bolt hereinafter referred to. l

The numeral Il designates the top or cover for the body l, this cover having an open under side outlined by a flange i2 which conforms in its dimensions with the flange 2 and is adapted to rest thereon so as to close the top opening of the body. At one end and preferably adjacent one side, the cover merges into the air outlet sleeve i3 which has its end edge slit, ,as indicated at it, so that it may be compressed or` reduced in diameter by the encircling clamping band l5. This sleeve is provided to receive the air inlet tube of a carbureter, not shown, about which it f is secured by the clamping band.

Disposed within the cover Il and preferably upon the longitudinal center thereof is a tube T which at one end is secured to the end wall of the cover remote from the sleeve i3. At its opposite end this tube has a portionextended laterally, as indicated at 31, so that it may join the sleeve it which is offset from the longitudinal center of the cover, as shown in Fig. 2. The tube T is spaced from the top of the cover II and is attached thereto by the longitudinally extending web 38 which at intervals has openings 39 cut therethrough. Upon its under side, the tube T is provided with the single longitudinally extending slot 40 which terminates at each end a substantial distance inwardly from the end wall of the cover.

The numeral I6 designates a tllter material container which is of elongated rectangular design and which is open at its top and bottom, the top part of the container being provided with the outwardly flaring encircling ange II. 'Ihe container I6 .is slightly tapered from the top to the bottom thereof and it is of a maximum width and length which is slightly less than the width and length of the opening for the body I, so that the container may be readily dropped into the body with the flange I1 resting upon the ange 2 between this flange and the flange I2 of the cover. The height of the container I6 is such that when it is suspended within the body in the manner stated, the bottom level will be slightly below the level of the oil in the sump 3.

The lower edge of the container I6 is bordered by the inwardly and upwardly extending flange I6', this flange being provided to prevent oil from entering the container from the sump 3 when the body is tipped either to one side or onto an end.

As previously stated, the walls of the container I6 taper toward the bottom and when the container is in position in the body, the inner ends of the air inlet conduits 1 are in relatively closely spaced relation with' the side walls of the container so that air entering the body I through these conduits strikes the side walls of the container I6 and is deflected downwardly toward the sump into which it* must pass before it can flow into the lower end of the container and upwardly through the same.

The container I6 is illed with a suitable filter material preferably copper mesh I8, and the top and bottom of the container are each covered by a screen to maintain the lter mesh in place, the top screen being indicated by the numeral I9 and the bottom screen by the numeral 20. These screens are soldered or otherwise permanently secured to the filter container, In the assembling of the lter unit comprising the contaner I6, the filter mesh I6 and the screens I9 -and 20, the bottom screen maybe secured in position before the lter material is put in and there may be secured vertically upon the bottom screen the bolt sleeve 2| alining with a suitable opening in the bottom screen and adapted for alinemerzt with a similar opening in the topA screen so that after the container I6 has been placed in position preparatory to applying the cover II, there may be extended upwardly through the sleeve I and through the sleeve 2I into which the sleeve I0 extends, the tie bolt 22 which passes throughv the top wall of the cover to receive a securing nut 23. By this means, the parts of the filter are securely coupled together. Gaskets 24 are preferably inserted between the flanges of the device to prevent leakage.

By the provision of the outwardly bulging ends 6 and 6 for the body and the bowed sides 4, it will b apparent that should they air cleaner be tipped in either direction sideways, oil in the 'sump 3 will merelyv flow into the chamber 9 between the wall 4 and the adjacent side wall 0f thecontainer I6 andcannot escape through II to pass into the engine carbureter. Should the cleaner be tipped onto its rear end or onto its forward end, the oil will flow either into the area 6' between the outwardly bowed rear wall 6 and the adjacent rear wall of the receptacle I6 or into the area 5 between the forwardly bowed wall 5 and the forward wall of the container I6. In either caseit will be retained against passage into the top II where it might flow into the engine carbureter. By the provision of the 'inwardly and upwardly extending flange I6' at the lower end of the container I6, the possibility of any oil splashing across the lower edge of a side or end wall of the container I6 and owing into the filtering material is avoided. If, however, a sudden inversion of the lter device should occur which would cause the oil in the sump to be thrown intothe area defined by the flange I6 and thus pass through thestraining or filtering material I8 into the top Il of the device, this oil cannot even then pass into the carbureter through the connection I3because of I the provision of the tube T, The apertures 39 in the web which connects the tube with the top of the cover permit the oil to pass between the tube and the top wall so that when the device is again placed in upright position, the oil will ow down and back through the filtering material into the sump but cannot be drawn into the opening 40 with the air.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that whenvthe cleaner device is mounted in horizontal position and attached at its for-v container I6. In passing upwardly through this container, any oil which may be picked up will be scrubbed out of the air by the copper mesh filter and the air will then flow in clean condition into the cover I I and into the engine carbureter.

In Fig. 3, a slightly modied construction of the air cleaner is shown for adapting the same to a downdraft carbureter such as is used with automobile engines. In this construction, the main body portion of the cleaner will be the same as thebody illustrated and described in connection with the preferred form, this body being here designated generally by the numeral 29with the exception that the bottom of the oil sump will have an air outlet tube 30 extended therethrough which at its lower end is slitted and provided with a clamping ring 3I to facilitate its attachment to the 'air intake of the carbureter while its upper end extends to .the top of the body 29. The cover for the open top of the body 29 is indicated by the numeral 32 and forms an air hood into which the air rises from the lter container 33 to pass downwardly through the tube 30.

The cover or top 32 for the modified form of the invention is held in place by providing the tube 30 in its upper part with--a spider 4I to which leak-preventing gaskets being inserted between,

the several parts. In this modified form, the lter container would be provided with a central vertical sleeve 34 which surrounds the tube 30, the top and bottom screens 35 and 36 respectively, for the lter material container being suitably centrally apertured for the extension therethrough of the upper or inner part of the tube 30 or, if preferred, the top lter retaining screen may be in a single piece to extend over and cover the inner or top end of the tube 30. With this modified construction, it will be readily seen that the air cleaner can be mounted directly over the carbureter in the customary manner of mounting air cleaners for downdraft carbureters.

What is claimed is:

1. An air cleaner, comprising an elongated horizontally disposed housing bodyr having a top opening and having a pan-like bottom forming a3 sump extending throughout the length of the body, a receptacle having downwardly converging imperforate side and end walls suspended within the body from the edge of said top opening, the receptacle being open at its top and bottom and having its bottom opening disposed with respect to said sump to be immersed in iiuid in the sump,a filter material filling the receptacle, said receptacle walls having at their lower edges inwardly and upwardly directed bordering rims. screens covering the open top and bottom of the receptacle, a hood-like cover overlying the open top of the body -and. of the receptacle, an air outlet conduit leading from said cover, and an air introducing conduit passing through a wall of the housing body and extending inwardly toward and terminating in close proximity to the adjacent side of the filter material receptacle for ,conducting the airv downwardly into the uid containing sump to pass through the fluid therein and into the said receptacle through the open bottom thereof.

2. An air cleaner, comprising an elongated horizontally disposed housing of substantially cylindrical cross-section and having a top opening.

and a -longitudinally extending pan-like bottom sump to be lled with fluid, an elongated con tainer disposed within the housing and having an open top and an open bottom, said container being secured around its top to the edge of said housing opening and having its open bottom in a plane to be submerged in said sump, a hood covering said housing opening and said container, an air outlet in communication with said hood, a filtering material lling the container, said container having its walls of imperfoiate form, and an air admitting conduit extending through a side wall of thehousing and discharging therein in close proximity to a side of said container, the air passing downwardly into the fluid in said sump and into the ii'ltermaterial container through the open bottom of the latter, said ilter material container having an upwardly and inwardly extending fiangebordering the open bottom thereof.

3. A iluid bath air cleaner, comprising an elongated body having ,an open top and a bottom formed to provide a iiuid containing sump, the length of the body being'horizontal when the body is in use, a hood-like cover for and extending lengthwise of said open top, a tube suspended within and extending lengthwise of and through said cover, an outlet sleeve connected with Aan end of thecover and having connection with saidy tube,'the sleeve being designed for attachment to the air inlet of a carbureter, said tube having a lengthwise downwardly directed air inlet opening therein, a iiltering medium carrying receptacle suspended within the vbody and having an open top and bottom, the open top-of the receptacle opening into the cver toward the opening' of the tube and the open bottom of the receptacle being disposed with respect to said sump to be immersed within fluid in the sump, the body having side walls spaced from the receptacle, and air inlet means leading through said side walls toward the adjacent sides of the receptacle.

4. An air cleaner, comprising a housing having a bottom portion designed to receive a uid, a removable top for the housing forming an air hood, a receptacle suspended in the housing from the lower part of the hood, the receptacle having an open top directed into the hood and an open bottom arranged for immersion influid in the bottom of the housing, a filter material filling the receptacle, an air outlet conduit leading from the hood, said housing having side walls spaced from the walls of the receptacle to an extent sufficient to provide a space therebetween in which all of the uid may be receivedwhen the housing is A turned on one side, and air admission conduits extending through the side walls of the housing toward and terminating in relatively close proximity to the adjacent walls of the receptacle whereby the uid is held against escape from the housing upon its entrance into said space.

Y 5. An air cleaner, comprising a housing formed to contain a fluid in its bottom portion, a filter containing receptacle suspended in the housing and secured thereto adjacent its top to the upper part of the housing, the portion of the housing above the receptacle forming an air chamber, the receptacle forming anA air passageway between the lower part of the housing and the air chamber, a lter material within the receptacle, the said receptacle and the housing having side walls spaced apart a distance suilicient to provide a space into which iuid may enter from the lower part of the housing when the housing is turned on its side, an air conduit in communication with said air chamber for conducting air therefrom, and air admission conduitscarried by the side walls of the housing and extending inwardly therefrom toward the adjacent walls'of the receptacle across the said space between the receptacle wall and the adjacent housing wall, said last conduits functioning to admit air into the housing and to prevent the escape oi fluid when the housing is turned on its side.

THURMAN J. McLEISH. 

